Vintage Blast Review – Start Strong, Finish Strong

Old School Labs has one of the coolest brand logos in the game. I mean just look at that! How retro can you get?

Apart from the logo, the company is also making heads turn with their back-to-basics, pure-of-heart, California-cool take on sports nutrition products for Bros.

Vintage Blast is their two-stage pre-workout supplement. Let’s have a deeper look into the makings of this traditional-yet-innovative PWO.

About Vintage Blast

The irony is strong with Old School Labs, since their formulations are… well, advanced. Their stacks are simple, but usually feature an innovative twist. Vintage Blast fat burner continues this Old School Labs brand philosophy. Formula notes:

Two-Stage PWO: They designed their PWO specifically to elevate you fast, sustain your performance, and then to supply a late-game surge to finish strong.

Micro-Encapsulated Caffeine: Sounds awesome so it must be awesome! And it is, functioning like a “sustained-release” caffeine form.

Clean formula. Old School keeps it clean; not too many additives , no silly artificial colors, and it is sweetened with stevia.

Directions for use: For use as a dietary supplement. Assess your tolerance with one-half scoop mixed with 14-16 oz. water, 15 to 30 minutes before your workout. Then continue with 1 scoop 15 to 30 minutes before workouts. Accustomed athletes can take up to 2 scoops before competitive events. Due to its potency, do not exceed the recommended dosage and avoid taking before bedtime. Do not consume on non-workout days.

Just because it’s Vintage doesn’t mean its old.

From a company that calls itself OLD SCHOOL they sure have a pretty innovative product. They made use of a unique form of caffeine as well as a two-stage approach in their formulation, definitely not “vintage” in our book. Let’s hit the ingredients and find out more:

Vitamins and Minerals

As usual, we don’t get too hyped-up over plain ol’ basic vitamins and minerals in a PWO. You should be taking a good multivitamin that covers all these bases anyway. But here’s Vintage Blast’s basics, and why we think they included them.

Vitamin C. Reduces oxidative stress during strenuous exercise.

Niacin. “No-flush” form; may support exercise capacity.

Vitamin B6 & B12. Cheap forms (P-5-P & Methylcobalamin are better).

Vitamin B5. May help withstress and for energy metabolism.

Magnesium. Citrate form is potent & easy to absorb. Good for T.

Zinc. Oxide is lesser form, but it’s a must-have mineral for manly health.

Sodium+Potassium. Helps with fluid balance and hydration during training.

Stage 1 Group: Start Strong

This is the blend you’re supposed to feel right off the bat…. yeah, that’s what we are looking for in a PWO! It’s meant to get your muscles primed and energized for peak gym performance and more:

L-Citrulline Malate. Citrulline Malate is one of the best nitric oxide boosters around, and ranks high on our best pre-workout ingredient list.

AAKG: Preferred form of arginine that delivers both nitric-oxide-boosting and physical performance-enhancing activity.

Beta Alanine. Great performance enhancer, as well as promoting better endurance and faster recovery…which is why it’s another top-ranked PWO.

Caffeine Anhydrous. Standard energy source. It’s a moderate 150 mg dose (relative to the many super-caffeinated PWO and fat-burners out there), but it’s placed in “Stage 1” so the user feels it immediately.

Stage 2 Group: Finish Strong

This blend is aimed towards a performance boost mid-exercise and is set to give you sustained energy for longer periods of time due to the delayed release of the second stage of caffeine.

N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine. Also known as NALT, this is the form of tyrosine that is used for mental performance, featured in mental domination supplements, and is probably used in Vintage Blast to support focus and intensity in the gym.

Micro Encapsulate Caffeine. Encapsulating it means it’s meant to go off slower, releasing into the bloodstream after a delay for a surge of alertness and energy towards the end of your training session.

Synephrine HCl. Better known as “bitter orange”, it improves metabolism but becomes a bonafide fat scorcher when combined with caffeine. Their combination can also enhance muscle endurance. More reps, less fat, Bro.

Formula Analysis

Old School Labs’ Vintage Blast looks solid and should perform as described. It has a big serving size and gives you a decent workout boost, as well as healing with muscle recovery post-exercise.

They mean well by adding a whole team of vitamins and minerals; but there’s nothing spectacular or tangible to get excited about with these basics…. just foundation nutrition that you should be getting anyway.

The real differentiator in Vintage Blast is their two-stage design.

First is their Stage 1 “fast absorption” blend and is designed to give you that instant workout boost minutes after ingestion. It has a standard dosage of Citrulline but the addition of AAKG seems to augment it with additional NO-boosting synergy. Beta Alanine adds another layer of proven PWO support and NO-boosting activity. L-Carnitine Tartrate is another performance booster but the effect could be minimal at most due to a small dose.

Their caffeine looks a little light at 150 mg (compared with some other super-stimulating PWOs), but that’s what OLD SCHOOL wants. This is their Stage 1 Caffeine and is meant to be used almost immediately upon ingesting. The second stimulant surge comes in their Stage 2 blend.

Stage 2 blend is all about focusing on your mid-exercise performance. They have a good dose for DAA which benefits manly health and physical performance in a few different ways. NALT is so-so on dosage, but it’s a sign of quality that they are using the correct form of tyrosine for mental performance benefits. Synephrine is an amazing ingredient for fat loss; Vintage Blast supplies a standard level of dosage that is likely enhanced by synephrine’s synergy with caffeine.

Let’s now talk about their special stimulant: Micro-Encapsulated Caffeine.

Generally speaking, encapsulation is a process used to encase a substance within a dedicated “envelope.” It limits substance degradation and controls its release and has been used mostly in the flavors industry.

The purpose of encapsulating caffeine is to control energy spikes and therefore reduce or omit crashes. This enables Vintage Blast to provide sustained energy throughout the exercise and not rely on spikes. This may sound like a good idea, and it usually is, but they say it can be active for up to 3 hours…so just be aware, especially if you’ve got stimulant sensitivities.

Vintage Blast Benefits

Classic PWO benefits here, bro. What’s a little different is that the energy will come on fast, and remain strong thoughout the workout…. no flagging, no tanking. It’s got plenty of N.O. boosting activity, and will help to prime and power muscles to peak performance during workout. Afterwards, it’ll help you recover, too.

Who Takes It?

Tough call but they seem to adhere to hipster-lifters and California Muscle-Beach natural bodybuilders. Their net is equally likely to catch users who’ve had it with high energy spikes, crashes and jitters, and are looking for something milder, smoother & cleaner.

Any Side Effects?

We’re just not sure how your body will tolerate Vintage Blast’s two-stage caffeine load if you take it later in the day. If you’re used to high amounts of caffeine you may not even feel a thing. If you’re not as tolerant, there’s a chance you’ll have more energy than you like but without the crash, thankfully. There’s a chance of having sleep problems but apart from that this PWO is clean.

Vintage Blast Summary

Pros

Big scoop. Allows some leg room for their important ingredients.

No Crashing. Caffeine is released separately to avoid crashes.

Sustained energy. You won’t run out of gas mid-exercise.

Synergy. Each blend works together and amplifies effects.

No cycling. You can take this as frequently as you want.

Holistic Formula. Electrolytes and micronutrients help you train and recover.

Cons

Expensive. Price is pretty steep for 20 servings.

A “gentler” form of energy. Old time users may miss huge stimulant spikes.

Pricing & Buying Info

1 bottle (20 servings): $39.99 on Amazon

Final Word on Vintage Blast

Vintage Blast is a good PWO that distinguishes itself from the rest of the “new kids” in the market. It has plenty of performance boosters and is intelligently structured to work with each other. We got gripes about its plain ingredient forms, and some dosages are just so-so. But we still think Vintage Blast is a quality PWO stack that’s worth a “personal review.”